MarcusX

14 hours ago, Simon bristol said:

It was clear from the watford west ham and forest games, that he had us ticking over really well, there was a lot of positivity around in those cup games! He was let down with the striker situation in january, and had rotten luck with the twine injury, and also, hes had to deal with the aftermath of the pearson decision. Hes certainly made mistakes too, and hopefully theres some confidence around now that we can play out the season with a good run and give hope for the future. It was only last week that yet again he was being personally ridiculed for his communication style,, and its out of order,,, hes clearly a bright successful guy, having some meat head from weston giving him personal grief is embarrassing.

Whilst I agree, you can also counter that by saying the horrendous performances against Swansea, QPR and Wednesday we're all following his plan and he setup in a specific way against those that led to us being ineffective (eg not pressing high and sitting off). There's night and day between yesterday and those games (and the aforementioned games) so it's not down to the players.

1 minute ago, Davefevs said:

I know we’ve had a similar view on Manning, but it’s been unfortunate for him that he’s not had the players to do that sooner. Though pre-Twine we were suggesting he play Conway deeper behind Wells, which I still think could have worked.

3 hours ago, Simon bristol said:

Twine in at number 10 with knight in midfield has to be making a difference 

As someone who hasn’t been a fan of Manning (although caveat it by saying early on I could see signs of some improvement initially) I’m delighted with the wins this weekend, but more importantly the performances. Credit where it’s due, he’s changed shape (and back again when needed) and made subs that have had a positive impact. Long may it continue.

Also, give credit if his plan all along was Twine in the 10 and Knight in the 8 / deeper (and with James) then at least he’s finally got that and he’s been unlucky with the injuries.

9 minutes ago, BCFCGav said:

I’d find him a start or two in our last 6 games I think. We know Twine’s quality, we don’t know Mebude’s. I feel for the lad and would like to see him given a shot. 

Fair point, and we’re also putting twine in the shop window a little bit if he has a storming end of season. Could see Burnley raise his price or someone else come in etc

Although I’d be surprised if teams weren’t already aware 

2 hours ago, Red Billy said:

83 consecutive games? Wonder what the record is at city for consecutive games played? Anyone know?

If I had to guess I reckon it’d be quite high from the smaller squad / no sub days but would be interested to know!

Not sure what Pring was actually booked for? 

Just now, old_eastender said:

King for Twine, as we try to shut up shop

Commentators just said he looked hurt after playing that pass.

Thought their red was harsh initially, at the third angle though you can see he’s missed the ball completely and probably a yellow with that kind of force.

Opening 20 aside, it’s been a decent performance.

Another pen we don’t get, shock

1 minute ago, lenred said:

Now booked

It was Twine, and a stupid booking at that

2 minutes ago, slartibartfast said:

This really gets on my tits , never used to happen !

A bizarre thing to be wound up by. Surely someone’s life is more important than the last 15 minutes of a football match?

12 minutes ago, 22A said:

As so often in the last few season, oppos break down their left wing, City's right to get their crosses in.

Why can't City wear red today?

12 minutes ago, Pip King said:

Absolutely baffling stuff

12 minutes ago, One Team said:

Weird we're not playing in red, kits clash pretty badly! 

Already been said, red v green is a clash for anyone who is colour blind and black vs dark green would be awful too.

I don’t think yellow and green is exactly brilliant either but it’s a very light yellow and a dark green at least 

9 minutes ago, mozo said:

Not really because if we lose today but then win the next three games, we're still on good form. Obvs I'll still be annoyed if we lose. 

Plymouth look bang up for it.

I didn’t mention result, and that’s not the key indicator today IMO

1 minute ago, exAtyeoMax said:

why not play in black or home kit? Seems silly for there to be lots of green

I’d imagine that would be a nightmare for anyone who is colour blind, particularly red v green. As theirs is dark green then I assume black might be difficult to?

46 minutes ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

Yea 5 at the back vs Plymouth, absolutely fantastic that we are scared of Plymouth.

Were we scared of Leicester? Didn’t look it.

Easy to say 5 at the back if you want to be negative about it, or you could say it’s 3 at the back?

21 minutes ago, Malago said:

Where’s all this “acid test”, “big game” etc stuff coming from.  It’s a fairly meaningless end of season game.  Hope we play well, hope we win, but depending on other results, the best we can hope for us to jump up to 11th.  Hardly earth shattering stuff.

Disagree, this games fairly important IMO.

Its a chance for Liam to prove that he isn’t a “one trick pony” in terms of game plan.

It’s also a chance for him to win some fans back I reckon, or start to at least.

I think loads of us were excited after Southampton and thought we’d turned the corner and we all know what happened since.

So is Leicester another anomaly where the opponents press and attacking style left gaps for us to expose (which is our strengths despite Liam not because of him) or, let’s give him some credit as he changed formation and plan, was it signs that Liam did his homework and set up well to beat the team in front of him?

One thing that was notably different was the high press. I can’t understand why we aren’t doing that against “weaker” teams instead of this stand off stalemate nonsense we saw against Swansea.

If we see that press, and some more direct play today - OR - if they sit in but we manage to unlock them, then I think a few opinions may change.

If we see a repeat of QPR, Swansea, Wednesday etc then Friday was ultimately pointless really.

8 minutes ago, Super said:

Well it is April 1st. Good one.

Look how far Assignon is from the ball when he fouls Mudryk, he’s ran past the ball and knows he isn’t getting there so has to take the man.

13 hours ago, Markthehorn said:

Yes definitely don’t think you are alone there !
 

Both teams playing for a  draw ?

Hence the point in this my last line .

Wasn’t any controversy to talk about or chances of note.

No chance City were playing for a draw, they just couldn’t break down the 11 men Arsenal constantly had behind the ball.

23 hours ago, Super said:

One of the worst I've seen this season.

Really? Defender has over ran it and the ball isn’t within playing distance, bringing Mudryk down. It’d be a foul anywhere else on the pitch.

On 30/03/2024 at 23:30, forbespm said:

Totally agree with your points made.the 2nd penalty especially was a joke,should have been a free kick to west ham if anything!

Had it happened at the other end, as Phillips was about to shoot, I’m sure it would be a penalty (eg a foul on Phillips)

It’s an intriguing one though, it’s clever play rather than cheating, there’s no rule to say you can’t put your body in the way.

11 hours ago, Silvio Dante said:

Ghostie. You know as well as I do that the OP is one of the bot army. Its a valid question as to James or Williams to which the answer is the former any day of the week but the caching of the question is tiresome.

And several ITK people have indicated James isn’t being renewed. Unless that is for personal reasons on his behalf, the broader question is why someone, who as proved yesterday is integral to our team, is being jettisoned. Because it is the literal definition of a no brainer to keep him on.

And, back to the OP, that is “Liams Dilemma”

Didn’t James say yesterday he wants to stay? Or did I mishear that?

It was a great performance and win, undoubtedly.

However, let’s see what happens Monday.

I got carried away after Southampton thinking we’d turned a corner and that was signs of the future.

I still see a side that can play a bit when the opposition presses us, and leaves space to get at. Still nothing to suggest we have a plan to beat the weaker sides, so very little changes on the face of one game.

7 minutes ago, Tony Tootle said:

I was on about Conway one although haven't watched the game back so maybe it would've been soft

Not soft in my opinion, was pulling Conway by the shorts

2 minutes ago, George Rs said:

Brilliant game management, brilliant set up, brilliant performance. 

Do that against a team below us will change my view on manning tbf. 

Somewhat lucky with vardy missing chances but had quite a few ourselves and should’ve been a red in the first half. 

Fair assessment.

First and foremost great performance. No matter if we’re “better” against better teams or not, we still have to perform with the counter style and not just fold.

However, it’s not a style we can play against weaker teams, we know that. That’s where we need to see improvement. If you told me we’d take 3 points from this weekend, I know which I’d think were more likely to get it from - as silly as that might sound based on the table.

Great saves from Max today, though you’d put money on Vardy scoring at least one of them.

1 minute ago, The Original OTIB said:

11 from us not them.

Yep I’ve misheard that, had a stinker there… take that back!

Max with his own decent double save there 

Actually, I will change that view - Ipswich first half was awful. We sat in with barely any attacking intent and tried to get to half time “still in it”.

We've definitely gone for it more in this first half.